Tag Archives: showbags

Ah, the weekend. There is something quite special about a Friday night. All the pressure of having to be on top of housework, homework, school lunches, laundry, etc, for the next day is removed and all the rules are relaxed. In my house the kids refer to Friday night as “Pizza Night”. I make them homemade pizza – one gluten-free with ham and cheese, one gluten-free with ham, olives and cheese and one gluten with ham olives and cheese. (Yes – adventurous gourmands my children are not). They pick a movie and are allowed to eat in front of the TV, with their pizza, while I sip a glass of wine, check messages on-line, talk to friends on the phone, and let them run a bit loose. We all just let go a bit, and breathe out a bit and generally flop. I love it!

Of course every now and then I think of the Friday nights of a decade ago, or two decades ago, where the image of this sort of Friday night would have been depressing, and think that I am glad that I did my partying when I was younger, because now I don’t think that this is depressing at all.

The look back at the week takes place as part of the Friday night ritual. This Friday marks the end of my second week back at work, and my first week of my new routine of starting early, and leaving early to pick up the kids. By Wednesday I was feeling exhausted and that this approach wasn’t working, as my son was having some of his old issues again, and I was back at the school having meetings again. But fast forward just two days and we seem to all be settling into the new routine much better, and I am able to have perspective on giving us all time to adjust before I panic and come up with a new strategy! I am hoping that as we settle, I will be able to find a bit of a routine for my own time – that small window after everyone is in bed – so that I can blog regularly, sew regularly and have time for keeping in contact with my family and friends without feeling like I am dropping the ball somewhere.

I suspect that part of the reason that I feel so good tonight is that I have had wonderful news from my mother that some test results we have been waiting on for over a week have returned and that we don’t have bad news from them. Many prayers have been answered and we are so grateful. All of this has meant that her visit to us has been postponed, but we are making our way through this transition to school and work on our own quite well, so I have told her to not rush over here, and to take some time at home until we see how things are going. A huge weight has lifted off my shoulders (although probably not as big as the one she was carrying quietly!)

So all of this means that I had a slow sewing week to start with, but that my momentum has picked up as the week has gone on. I photographed the pillowcases and listed them on Etsy, then the next day posted them on Facebook, and they sold straight away – to the same lovely friend who bought the first set. It is such lovely encouragement to have that kind of feedback, it spurred me on to do a bit more. I de-constructed and then re-constructed a bag I was making for a woman I work with. It just wasn’t sitting right and I wasn’t happy with it, even though I had ‘finished’ it and photographed it two weeks ago. But with a clear mind I was able to see where I needed to change it, so I did, then took it to her yesterday. I am much happier with the end product now and she is happy with the bag, so I feel good about that too.

I then received three orders in the space of half an hour or so, through my Facebook page – two library bags and a hand bag. I feel so privileged to be able to make things for people who I know, and I have had the fun of suggesting colours, designs and fabrics through the internet – learning all the time! Two women I work with have requested bags with specific Spoonflower fabrics, so that order went in last night. A good friend also reminded me that she wanted three of my iPod pillowcases…..and all of a sudden I need to prioritise projects! I am so excited at the chance to keep making great things. Although our weekend looks a bit busy I can see packets of time for sewing, so let’s hope that the outcome is better than last weekend. I did start one library bag last night, but as I picked it up tonight I realised that my decision to stop sewing last night due to the hour was a good one – I had sewed the front and back panels together with the front panel on upside down! So the unpicking will occur before anything else happens. Luckily the applique went on the right way.

My other piece of creativity last night was another batch of salted caramel fudge……. I wanted to make something to take to a morning tea with my team today….. and any excuse will do! The kids were thrilled that I had slipped a little piece in their lunches today alongside the healthy options, and everyone at work enjoyed it. Now to remember to make the bit that has not yet been cut last more than a day….

This weekend is the Royal Canberra Agricultural Show – which the children had planned to enter the cooking competition. Unfortunately their busy mother forgot the put the entry in on time….. but we have decided that attending and scoping out the competition for next year is a good excuse to attend this year anyway. I have made it clear that we are not going on rides and they were all very focussed on seeing the animals and exhibitions, until tonight when they discovered the list of show bags available……. and have spent the evening examining the very long list to identify what they want to buy. I haven’t yet determined how much money I am going to give them to use to budget for their visit, but it will be interesting to see how it all goes.

Then on Sunday I have a concert to attend – Neil Finn and Paul Kelly – two of my favourite Australian and New Zealand musicians. I am very excited about it. It starts the warm up to get me excited about my Easter trip to Byron Bay for Bluesfest. Expect to be bored with the details of that over the next few weeks…..because the headliners are big – Paul Simon, Robert Plant (you know – the Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin), Ben Harper, Chris Isaac, the Steve Miller Band (even just saying the name makes me think of space cowboys), Counting Crows, Santana……. oh look – I have already started getting excited! I just have to get my head around the logistics of where the children will be, what camping gear I will be packing, doing the drive on my own, etc…..

The Friday flop is kicking in – the house is a bit messy, no sewing has been done, the kids are asleep and I am about to head to bed to read for a while. I hope that your week has been good and that you have great weekend plans to be excited about.